Global carmakers aim to reopen plants, pledging increased worker safety

Automobile producers across the world have accelerated efforts to restart their factories amid the Covid-19 pandemic which has sent the auto industry into the worst tailspin since the 2008-2009 financial crisis.

Car manufacturers and suppliers say that temperature screening, daily health questionnaires, assembly lines redesigned to keep workers between three and six feet (0.9m to 1.8m) apart, and lots of masks and gloves, could enable large-scale factories to operate safely.

Italian sports car maker Ferrari has offered to provide voluntary blood tests to employees who wanted to know if they had been exposed to the virus.

General Motors’ Head of Workplace Safety Jim Glynn told Reuters the company has studied and adapted measures taken by Amazon to protect warehouse workers, such as temperature screening to catch employees with fevers before they enter the workplace.

“We know the protocols to keep people safe,” said GM’s Executive Vice-President for Global Manufacturing Gerald Johnson. He added that GM has relaunched vehicle plants in China and kept factories running in South Korea.

Major European automakers have said they hope to restart production of vehicles in mid-to-late April. In the US, several big automakers (including Fiat Chrysler, Honda Motor and Toyota Motor) aim to resume production during the first week of May.

Fiat Chrysler and unions are discussing plans for increased health measures at Italian plants in order to recommence production as soon as the government eases the national lockdown currently due to end on April 13. Unions have proposed to move meals to the end of shifts, allowing employees to choose to avoid canteens, eat their food elsewhere and leave half an hour earlier without losing pay.

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